Warm Bodies
by Koyasu
Summary: Aya brings her granddaughter to visit Ran and Ken in the nursing home. While there, Ken tells of the fateful night that he and Ran fell in love.
1. Default Chapter

"Obaasan, do I have to go?" the young woman sulked, shuffling behind   
her grandmother.  
  
"Hikari, I haven't seen your great uncle Ran since I put him in the   
nursing home", Aya said, trying to be patient with the 20-year-  
old. "I'm sure he must get lonely. He will be glad to see us."  
  
"How could he be lonely? He has that weird boyfriend living there   
with him". Hikari argued. "And anyway, I don't want to see him. He's   
so funny looking. All toothless! And he drools on everything. It's   
nasty!"   
  
"That's quite enough out of you, young lady", Aya scolded, dragging the young women behind her into the building.  
  
*  
  
"Nii-chan! Ken!" Aya called pleasantly into the room.   
  
An old man with an athletic build and graying hair approached Aya and   
Hikari, greeting each of them with a hug. "Aya-chan! We're happy you   
could visit us!" he exclaimed, leading each of them to chairs at   
either corner of the room. "Have a seat."  
  
"Arigato." Aya relaxed into the chair, nodding warmly at her   
brother's lover of the past 62 years. A moment later, a nurse wheeled   
Ran into the room. He'd had obviously just been given a shower. He   
was wearing only a white bathrobe and his hair was still wet.   
  
"Would you like me to brush your hair for you, nii-chan?" Aya asked   
gently.  
A toothless face looked up at her, nodded and smiled.   
  
Hikari turned her attention to the snow covered landscape. She was   
always uncomfortable around old people. Especially her helpless great   
uncle, who needed to have everything done for him, so the white   
blanket that covered the earth and dusted the trees was a comforting   
sight.  
  
"Snow", Ken sighed, taking the girl out of her thoughts. If it wasn't   
for the snow, I don't know that Ran and I would even be together.  
  
Hikari rolled her eyes. Sometimes, Ken made no sense at all. It was   
no secret that he was a demented, senile old man. He fancied himself   
to be staff at the nursing home, even going so far as to try and   
order around his own nurse. Once, Hikari caught him naming the   
buttons on his shirt, and even talking to them. Even Ran seemed to   
notice that his lover wasn't quite right in the head.   
  
"Is that so?"Hikari finally responded.  
  
"Actually, it is" Aya answered for Ken. Ran told me the story years   
ago. It's really very sweet." She looked at her brother, who was   
staring misty eyed at Ken, his eyes saying 'tell them the story   
again.'  
  
Hikari gave a small moan. "Fine. Ken, will you tell me the story   
about you, Ran and the snow?"  
  
"I'd be happy to" Ken beamed.  
(Begin flashback)  
"How is Omi?" Ran asked, looking up expectantly at Ken.  
  
"Well, his fever has gone down, but he's still coughing up blood. I   
called the doctor, and he said to go ahead and refill Omi's   
medication. I can go, if one of you doesn't mind sitting with him for   
a while.   
  
"No, I'll go", Ran offered. "I need to get some things for myself   
anyway."  
  
"You sure?" Ken eyed the redhead with worry. He looked tired and   
weak, and had a bad cough to boot. It looked like he was getting the   
same thing that Omi had. "I mean, if you make me a list-"  
  
"I'll be fine" Ran insisted, zipping up his coat. "be right back."  
  
Ken and Yoji sighed, watching the redhead leave. "Stubborn and   
brooding, that's Ran for you", Yoji muttered, shaking his head.  
  
*  
Ken looked up at the clock with worry. "Where the hell is Ran? It's   
been almost two hours and..." he looked outside. "The storm has   
gotten worse. Much worse."  
  
"Yeah. I hope he's okay", Yoji echoed Ken's concern, lighting a   
cigarette.  
  
"I'm going to look for him", Ken decided, standing up and walking to   
the door.  
  
"Are you crazy?" Yoji gave Ken a look that told him he'd already made   
up his mind what the answer to that question was.  
  
"What? You want me to just leave him to die?" Ken glared at his   
friend, walking for the door.  
  
"We don't know if he's-" Yoji began. But it was too late. Ken was   
already gone.  
  
Ken didn't have far to go before he found Ran. Looking ahead, he saw   
that Ran's car was still there. Forging ahead, he kept his eyes   
peeled for any sign of the redhead. His foot hit something. Something   
that moaned. Ken looked down. "Ran!"   
  
Ran looked up, dazed at disoriented, at Ken. He opened his mouth, the   
speech that came out senseless and slurred.  
  
'Oh no!' Ken panicked. Please don't let it be...' He looked Ran   
directly in the eyes, trying to get the violet orbs to focus on   
him. "Ran." He spoke slowly. "Ran, can you stand up?"  
  
Ran didn't answer. He simply lay there, teeth chattering, eyes   
darting about. Ken knew what was wrong. Hypothermia. He also knew   
that, at this stage, if Ran didn't receive treatment soon, he would   
surely die. 


	2. In From the Cold

Talk about unfortunate timing! I posted chapter one during that weekend that reviews were disabled. Being the review slut that I am, I was quite disappointed. Oh well. I hope you all enjoy chapter two. And I hope to gets lots and lots of review. hehe I'm shameless!  
One more thing before I get to the next chapter. I updated my profile (finally). There, you will find a link to my NEW website.   
  
Happy reading! ^_^  
  
~Koyasu  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Well, that didn't take long", Yoji commented from the couch. "I take it you found-" He turned around, his jaw dropping. "Ran...Ken, you brought home a Ransicle."  
  
"That's not funny", Ken scowled.  
  
"I'm sorry", Yoji apologized, standing up. "I was just upset. And you know I use humor to-"  
  
"You don't need to explain", Ken interrupted. "Not now, anyway. Ran has hypothermia, and one of us needs to treat him."  
  
"How do you treat hypothermia?" Yoji asked, staring at the frozen man in Ken's arms.  
  
"You mean you don't know?" Ken gave an exasperated sigh. "Body to body contact."  
  
"Oh. Well, uh...I think I'll leave that up to you", Yoji decided. " I have a feeling you're a little more anxious to see Ran naked than I am."  
  
"Very well." Ken rolled his eyes, turned and carried Ran into his bedroom.  
  
Despite his disoriented state, Ran looked visibly nervous as Ken set him on the bed and undressed him.  
  
"Daijobou, Ran", Ken whispered reassuringly as he wrapped a warm towel around Ran's head. "No need to feel self-conscious. See?" Ken took off his shirt. "I'm undressing, too. Neither of us has anything to feel ashamed about. This is all just part of getting you better", he went on, taking off his boots, socks and pants.  
  
Ken crawled into the bed, pressing up against Ran's naked, shivering flesh; wrapping his strong, tan arms around him. Under any other circumstances, he would be turned on by the sight of Ran naked. He would be excited to have him in this position of vulnerablity. But not tonight. Now, his only goal was to save Ran's life.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, a healthy palor returned to Ran's skin, and his breathing returned to a steady pace. Ken gave a heavy sigh, the relief visible on his face.   
  
"Are you doing okay now, Ran?" Ken asked, running a warm hand down Ran's chest. "Is there anything that you need?"  
  
Ran turned away from Ken, his face slightly flushed. "I...my...I think I... twisted my ankle", Ran panted, explaining how he could have gotten hyporthermia simply by walking to his car. "Slipped on ice and...and..." Ran stopped there, erupting into a fit of coughing.   
  
"And we're getting you to a doctor as soon as this storm clears", Ken cut in. "You're in worse shape than you know."  
  
(End flashback)  
  
Ken took a breath, looking over at Ran with love. Ran smiled back, a string of spittle travelling from his mouth to his lap.   
  
Hikari fought back the urge to gag. She knew that her great uncle wasn't always this disgusting. She had seen old pictures, and she envied the beauty that he once possessed. Nevertheless, she wasn't sure she liked where this conversation was going.  
  
"This isn't going to turn into a sex story, is it?" Hikari whispered cautiously to Aya. "Because I don't-"  
  
"Of course it isn't", Aya whispered back, laughing. "You think I'd want to sit through it for the 500th time if it were?"  
  
"Guess not", Hikari shrugged. "Um, can I talk to you out in the hall for a moment?"  
  
"Sure." Aya turned to walk back over to Ran, when she and Hikari saw something they'd rather not have. Ken had stripped Ran naked, and was now beginning to unfasten his own pants.   
  
"KEN!" Aya called out in shock.   
  
"What?" Ken looked up innocently, while Ran drooled into his navel, oblivious.  
  
"Now is not the time for that", Aya scolded. "Can...you..." she grunted, struggling with Ran's dead weight to get him back into the bathrobe. "Behave...until we come...back?" She finished, tying up Ran's robe.  
  
"But I want to finish the story", Ken pouted.  
  
"And you'll get to", Aya promised. "But Hikari needs to talk with me about something first."  
  
*  
  
"So, what is it?" Aya asked, closing the door behind her.  
  
"Who are Yoji and Omi?" Hikari wondered. "I'd never heard of them until today. Did they go to college together? What exactly did they all do? And how did they meet? I really don't know anything about Ran or Ken."  
  
"And suddenly you care?" Aya looked skeptically at her granddaughter. "You always said that they were disgusting old men."  
  
"Well, what can I say? My curiousity got the best of me", Hikari grinned widely. "As Ken told his story, I realized that they must have led incredibly interesting lives. So now, I want to know what you've all been keeping from me. For example, how did Ran get that scar?"  
  
Aya feigned ignorance. "What scar?"  
  
"That big, ugly scar I saw on him just just a minute ago." Hikari rolled her eyes in exasperation.  
  
"It's not my place to tell you", Aya said sternly, her hand on the doorknob.  
  
"Come on!" Hikari whined. "You should be happy that I'm taking an interest. Who knows, I may wind up enjoying these visits."  
  
"Aya groaned, rolling her eyes. "Fine. I'll tell you a little bit. But not much. Even your mother doesn't know all the details. Ran met Ken, Yoji and Omi when they were working as...florists."  
  
Hikari rubbed her hands together. "Go on..."  
  
"I'm not at liberty to say much else", Aya admitted. "Everything I say will be very vague from this point on."  
  
"That's fine. Tell me!" Hikari whined.  
  
"Omi and Yoji died years ago. But the four of them were very close, and saw eachother through a lot."  
  
"A lot of what?" Hikari prodded.  
  
"Nice try", Aya chuckled, playfully smacking Hikari on the side of the head. "Let's just say that they've been through enough for 20 lifetimes. Ken wasn't always able to control his rage, and he got into some trouble..."  
  
"Is that how Ran got the scar?" Suddenly, Hikari looked terrifed. "Did Ken hurt Ran?"  
  
"Oh! Heavens no!" Aya exclaimed. "Ran got the scar from...he..."  
  
"He what?"  
  
"He was stabbed. He almost died. I swear! He's been to hell and back. I can't tell you how many times he ALMOST died. I've never seen anyone quite as resilliant as Ran" Aya laughed, but tears were streaming down her face. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"  
  
Hikari shook her head. "Not that I can think of at the moment." Truthfully, her mind was full of questions. But she could see that her questions were causing her grandmother a lot of pain, and that was more than she could bear.  
  
Aya put her hand on Hikari's shoulder, leading her toward the closed door. "Then let's go back inside. Ken has a story to finish."  
  
"Alright" Hikari agreed. "Hopefully, with won't be greeted by naked, wrinkled flesh." She shuddered.  
  
"Both women laughed, and Hikari reentered the room feeling happiness, sadness and intrigue all at once. 


End file.
